System and method for sports practice

ABSTRACT

A practice wall for sports having a plurality of panels arranged in a series of rows and columns. The columns are joined by hinges such that the columns can be folded to create various profiles which will cause a ball to reflect differently depending on the goals of the athlete. In one embodiment the panels can be readily disassembled so the wall can be temporarily erected, stored, and reassembled. In some embodiments the inventive practice wall can be fitted with instrumentation to provide objective performance data to the athlete or a coach.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/994,393, filed on Mar. 25, 2020, and incorporates such provisional application by reference into this disclosure as if fully forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for solo practice of sports. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention provides a system and method for returning a ball, or other object that can be reflected, back to an athlete during practice.

2. Background of the Invention

Solo practice for athletes in competitive sports has long been a problem. For example, tennis players have long used tennis walls for practicing tennis. A tennis wall is typically constructed of concrete or wood in a fixed location. Often a white line is painted horizontally across the wall to simulate a net. The participant hits the ball against the wall and then fields the bounce as if the ball was returned by another player. The big disadvantage of this system is that it requires a permanent installation and requires a significant investment. A racquet sports club is the most likely place to find a tennis wall and access to the wall is typically based on a sign-up sheet, or on a first-come-first-served basis. The athlete trying to achieve college level, or professional level, play will have a difficult time getting use of a tennis wall for enough time to achieve her, or his, goals.

The same issues exist with solo practice in many other sports. Baseball pitchers often throw into a net for practice. The net does not return the ball any significant distance, so the athlete typically pitches a bucket of baseballs, stops to collect the balls and starts over. Both infield and outfield players often resort to wall ball fielding drills for practice. Basketball players can easily practice shooting in a solo environment, but passing and ball-handling are difficult to perfect without a partner. Except where walls have been explicitly built for practice, building owners are usually not to keen to have balls repeatedly bounced off a wall due to marring and damage to the surface.

One issue with performing wall drills in any sport is that a flat wall is simply flat. The ball basically returns to the athlete at the reflected angle from which the ball strikes the wall. This provides some variety, but certainly does not allow the athlete to create a large number of variations for practice, or simulate a large number of conditions encountered in actual play.

A another issue with solo practice is the ability to perform analytics. While an athlete could video record her, or his, practice session and critique performance after-the-fact, there is not an easy scheme for quantifying the athlete's abilities during solo practice.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for solo practice which allows the user to simulate various conditions of the sport, and otherwise alleviate the needs discussed above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an installable practice wall for performing wall drills. Preferably the wall is assembled from prefabricated panels to allow the wall to be assembled on-site and disassembled for storage or relocation. Panels can be stacked both vertically and horizontally to create a wall of suitable dimensions for practicing the sport of choice.

In another preferred embodiment, adjacent horizontal panels are joined with hinges to allow section of the wall to face the user at varying angles, allowing the user to create varying situations when the ball returns from the wall. In further embodiments, adjacent vertical panels may also be adjusted to allow the athlete to create addition steeper, or shallower, return angles.

In yet another preferred embodiment, target areas are identified on the wall to allow the athlete to practice accuracy of ball placement while engaging in practice.

In still another preferred embodiment, the wall includes mounting areas for accessories, such a basketball hoop so the user can practice shooting, along with wall drills.

In another preferred embodiment, the wall includes chambers along the bottom to allow weight to be added to the wall for stability. Typically, the chambers would be filled with water, sand, or the like. The chambers may either be integral to the panels or attachable to the panels. Optionally outriggers may be attached to the panels to likewise improve stability.

In another preferred embodiment, the wall includes instrumentation to quantify the athlete's performance during solo practice. Such instrumentation could include, by way of example and not limitation, accelerometers to measure impact forces of the ball against the wall, which could be used to determine ball velocity, and angle of impact against the wall; video cameras for recording the athlete for later analysis, detecting eye movement during the session, detecting ball spin, before and after the return, accuracy relative to a target on the wall, etc.; microphones to allow analysis of the sounds produced by ball impact with a racket, baseball glove, the wall, or other sporting equipment; timers and counters to determine the number and rates of impacts; as well as other useful sensors.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the inventive practice wall in its general environment while being used for tennis practice.

FIG. 2 depicts the inventive practice wall in its general environment while being used for baseball or softball practice.

FIG. 3 depicts the inventive practice wall in its general environment while being used for soccer practice.

FIG. 4 depicts the inventive practice wall in its general environment while being used for basketball practice.

FIG. 5 provides a front view of one preferred embodiment of the inventive practice wall fully assembled.

FIG. 6 provides a rear view of the embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 provides a rear view of an exemplary panel as used to assemble the embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 provides a rear view of the embodiment of FIG. 5 partially assembled.

FIG. 9 depicts the partially assembled wall of FIG. 8 in the next step of the assembly process.

FIG. 10 depicts the wall of FIG. 5 with a camera for providing video analysis of the activities of an athlete practicing with the present invention.

FIG. 11 provides a block diagram of an instrumentation system for use with inventive practice wall.

FIG. 12 provides a block diagram of the system of FIG. 11 with am RFID reader for tracking practice session of individual athletes.

FIG. 13 provides a block diagram of an access system for tracking subscribers when logging data and creating reports of individual athletes using the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is important to understand that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction illustrated and the steps described herein. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate the same parts throughout the several views, an athletic practice wall 100 is shown in its general environment in FIG. 1. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of panels 102 (18 shown) are assembled to form wall 100. In the environment of FIG. 1, a tennis player 104 uses the wall to practice various aspects of her game. It should be noted that terms of direction, such as: “left,” “right,” “up,” “down,” and the like, are used herein to connote direction from the perspective of the athlete using the inventive wall.

In one preferred embodiment, panels 102 are joined to form a series of rows 152-156 and columns 140-150. Preferably, each column 140-150 is pivotally attached to each adjacent column such that wall 100 can be adjusted to a variety of profiles facing user 104. For example, column 140 is pivotally attached to column 142 along line 106, column 142 is likewise pivotally attached to column 144 along line 108, column 144 is pivotally attached to column 146 along center line 110, an so forth across the width of wall 100.

Accordingly, columns 140 through 150 can be folded to any desired angle to form a generally concave wall, a generally convex wall, or a straight wall. If wall 100 is configured in a substantially flat configuration, preferably weights or outriggers are attached to the back side of wall 100 along bottom row 152 to provide stability.

Trim pieces 126 and 128 may be added to improve the aesthetic appeal of wall 100 and to create a finished appearance.

With wall 100 in a concave configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, player 104 can direct volleys towards any panel 102 so that ball 122 will return generally towards the player based on the angle it strikes the wall and the spin placed on the ball by player 104. As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, as wall 100 is adjusted towards a flat, or convex, configuration, the more ball 122 will tend to deflect away from the user after striking the wall.

For tennis practice, a line 116 may be placed on wall 100 indicating the height of a tennis net. This allows the athlete to verify the ball would have cleared the net if on an actual court. In addition, targets, such as line 118 and plus sign 120, may be placed on the surface of wall 100 to help the player to work on accuracy of ball placement. Other targets may be added to wall 100 as desired. Targets and lines may be painted on, or simply be made from white tape. Tape of any color may be used, but preferably such tape is of a contrasting color to wall 100.

FIG. 2 shows wall 200 in its general environment. In the environment of FIG. 2, wall 200 is used for baseball or softball practice. When used for pitching practice, a line may be marked on the floor, or a mound provided, at the appropriate distance from the wall. A representative batter's box (not shown) may also be marked on the wall. Fielders can use the targets to practice accuracy of throwing and practice fielding on the returning ball. Athlete 202 is shown throwing ball 206 towards target 204. In some preferred embodiments, the upper panel 208, or panels if additional upper panels are added, can be hinged to be adjustable inward to give athlete 202 more options for flight of the returning ball.

In the environment of FIG. 3, wall 200 is being used for soccer practice. Athlete 210 can use target 212 to work on kicking accuracy or place ball 214 on the wall as desired to create game-like ball situations. To practice footwork drills, player 210 can place ball 214 low on the wall so the ball returns on, or near, the ground. To practice aerial ball handling, player 210 can kick the ball high against the wall so the ball returns as if kicked in the air by another player.

In the environment of FIG. 4, wall 200 is being used for basketball practice. Basketball goal 220 is typically mounted at regulation height, ten feet, although it can be mounted lower for younger players. The wall allows a basketball player 222 to practice passing and receiving passes without the need for a second player or coach. Ball 224 is simply bounced off of wall 200 to create the situation desired by the athlete 222.

Turning next to FIGS. 5 and 6, wall 500 is preferably constructed from a plurality of panels 502 formed from plastic. In one preferred embodiment each panel 502 is first rotationally molded. Rotational molding is a process well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and is particularly well suited for plastic parts having a large surface area, as injection molding such parts requires an enormous injection molding press to produce the necessary force to mold the part. To enhance the rigidity of surface 504 and optimize the ball rebound off surface 504, panel 502 is preferably filled with a material which will freely flow while filling, but will then harden in place. In one preferred embodiment, each panel 502 is foam filled, preferably with a polymeric foam. Such materials are available in a broad range of characteristics but a suitable fill material should support the outer shape of panel 502 and provide sufficient rigidity such that a substantial portion of a balls energy is returned to the ball on impact with the panel to provide a robust practice experience.

In order to prevent bulging of surface 504 during the filling and curing process, panel 502 may be supported with a clamp frame. Clamp frames, or cooling frames, are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and sometimes used on injected molded parts during cooling to prevent warping. Basically, the frame is a device to help the plastic part hold its shape until the manufacturing process is complete.

As with the embodiments previously discussed, adjacent panels 502 may be hinged along lines 506-514 to allow adjustment of the wall. A net line 516 and targets 518 and 520 may be applied to the forward surface 504 with paint, tape, or other contrasting medium. Trim pieces 526, 528, and 530 may be inserted along edges 560, 562 and 564, respectively, to provide a continuous, smooth edge.

An individual panel 502 is shown in FIG. 7. Panel 502 preferably includes: rear surface 702; edges 704-710, preferably extending rearward from inner surface 502 to improve the stiffness of panel 502; and an option handle 730 may be included to facilitate handling of panel 502 and assembly of wall 500 (FIG. 5). Top edge 710 includes a plurality of bosses 712 (three shown) protruding upward. Bosses 712 are received in receptacles 714 located along bottom edge 704, as best seen in FIG. 8. First side 706 includes a substantially cylindrical boss 716 which is received in a receptacle 718 located on second side 708, as best seen in FIG. 8. A connector 720 (FIG. 8) is attachable to panel 502 at the intersection of first side 706 and top edge 710.

With further reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, when wall 500 is assembled, a bottom row of panels 532 is first assembled from the right side of wall 500 by placing each adjacent panel 502 such that hinge receptacle 718 of the panel 502 a to the right is received over hinge boss 716 of the panel 502 b to its immediate left. Next, right panel 502 a is secured to left panel 502 b using connector 720. Connector 720 is simultaneously received in upper hinge receptacle 722 of right panel 502 a and feature 724 of left panel 502 b. As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, connector 720 completes the hinge-like connection between the two panels so that right panel 502 a can be rotated relative to left panel 502 b along vertical axis 728. The construction of row 532 continues in this fashion until wall 500 is of the desired length. For purposes of this disclosure, wall 500 is shown having six panels 502 placed horizontally, but the invention is not so limited. Walls of any length may be constructed.

After a row is completed, another row of panels 502 is stacked above lower row 532. Receptacles 714 of the upper panel 502 a receive bosses 712 of lower panel 502 c to fix upper panel 502 a directly above lower panel 502 c such that a smooth surface is created across the front of all the panels, except along the hinges where the wall maybe intentionally folded. Stacking of rows continues until wall 500 is of the desired height. For purposes of this disclosure the wall is shown having a height of three panels, but the invention is not so limited. Panels of any height may be constructed.

After the desired height has been achieved, edge trim 726 is placed over bosses 712 to give wall 500 a finished look.

As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, the inventive practice wall is particularly well suited for supporting instrumentation which can measure and analyze the performance of the athlete. Turning to FIG. 10, wall 800 is shown having a video camera 802 for capturing video images of the athlete while practicing her, or his, chosen sport. It should be noted that camera 802 may be mounted anywhere along the top 804, or either side 806 or 808, so long as it is directed to capture the portion of the athlete's motion for which analysis is to be performed. It should also be notes that several cameras may be used, and situated as necessary, to capture several different aspects of play. By way of example and not limitation, video analysis could include: arc of the swing for racquet sports; biomechanical technique for ball throwing; jump height for basketball; the athlete's eye movements for any sport; ball speed; ball trajectory; or the like. Video analysis has become relatively common-place and to offer such services no longer requires a crippling investment in software or infrastructure. For example, AMAZON KINESIS® is a video capture and analysis service offered by Amazon.com, Inc. of Seattle, Wash. This service is well suited for performing the analysis discussed above and, adapting the service to perform such tasks, and is within the skill level of one of ordinary skill in the art.

Further, camera 802 may include a microphone for capturing audio, or a separate microphone could be employed. Audio information may be used to determine when a ball is struck, when the ball strikes the wall, the time interval in between, the quality of the strike and other useful parameters. In addition, the athlete can choose to review portions of the practice session and observe performance and hear accompanying sounds.

Additional instrumentation may include accelerometers attached in intervals along the back of wall 800 and strain gauges imbedded in the front surface 810 of wall 800. A block diagram of such a system is depicted in FIG. 11. Instrumentation system 900 includes: an accelerometer 902 for detecting ball impacts with the wall; a plurality of strain gauges 904-910 for detecting the area on the wall where the ball impacts the wall; a processor 912 for reading sensors 902 and 904-910; and interface 914 for transmitting various metrics to a system for delivering the information to the athlete, the athlete's coach, etc.

Preferably accelerometer 902 is a three-axis accelerometer having three individual accelerometers orientated 90 degrees from each other. One such device suitable for use with the present invention is the IAM-20381 high performance 3-axis motion tracking accelerometer available from TDK Invensense, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. In a preferred embodiment one accelerometer package is located in approximately the center of each panel of the wall. The accelerometer will produce a signal proportional to the force with which the ball hits the wall. If the type, and mass, of the ball is known, the speed of the ball at the time of impact can be estimated with a reasonable degree of accuracy. In addition, the angle of impact can be estimated by processing the signals from all three accelerometers. The IAM-20381 connects to processor 912 via either an I2C bus or a SPI bus, both of which are well known in the art. A number of other inertial measurement units are equally well suited for this task.

Strain gauges 904 measure the deflection of the surface. Placing strain gauges around a target on the wall allows processor 906 to determine the point of impact, at least in the proximity of strain gauges. As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, strain gauges are normally connected as part of a bridge circuit 910 where the steady state condition is typically null, when read across the bridge at nodes 916 and 918. Changes in resistance caused by stress on the strain gauge 904 cause an imbalance in bridge circuit 910 and thus produces a signal readable by an analog input of processor 906. Since stress on strain gauge 906 is the result deformation in the surface of the wall caused by a ball impact, the output of the bridge circuit will be proportional to the distance of the point of impact from strain gauge 906. The exact position of the ball can be determined by examining the ratio of pairs of signals from nearby strain gauges. The output of strain gauge 904 may be rather small. Typically, an instrumentation amplifier 920 is used to amplify, and possibly otherwise condition, the output to make it suitable for reading with an analog input to processor 912.

In addition to sensors placed on or around the wall, sensors may also be placed directly on the athlete or in a piece of equipment such as a racket, a bat, or even the ball. By way of example and not limitation, sensors on the athlete could measure body speed, arm speed, hear rate, oxygen uptake, blood pressure, perspiration rate, etc. Likewise, by way of example and not limitation, sensors in equipment could include gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnitometers, video capture devices, microphones, etc.

Processor 912 is typically a microcontroller, such as the PIC32MZ1024EFG100 manufactured by Microchip Technology, Inc. of Chandler, Ariz. Preferably, interface 914 provides communication via an ethernet connection. While a number of communication interfaces would provide the required functions, ethernet is particularly useful as it easily facilitates centralization of accounting and database processes, allows simple communication with off-site functions, allows direct access to a user's smart phone, is easily adapted to wireless communication, etc. By example and not limitation, other suitable interface schemes include blutooth, USB, RS-232, and the like.

With further reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, processor 912 could also service an RFID reader 930, or other type of card reader, to provide access control and reporting for accounting or user logging. Thus, each athlete having access to the wall would waive and RFID key fob or card at reader 930. Processor 912 would then send the information to a facility computer 942 which would, in turn, look for the user in database 946 to ensure the user has access to the wall, and log the start time of the session for the user in the database. The access system could also provide a card readers 930 at building doors so that only athletes with valid subscriptions could gain access to wall 500 (FIG. 5). Results of a practice session could be made available to the user through a phone application or via a browser interface such that the user could access the information remotely over the internet 948. In addition, the athlete may review video of the session or select video surrounding a particular play or highlighted event.

While the embodiments discussed above have been described with reference to practice involving a round ball, the invention is not so limited. Embodiments of the present invention are also suitable for practice with oblong balls, i.e. footballs or rugby balls, as well as with other objects such as hockey pucks and other objects.

It should be noted that while preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described as assembled from rotationally molded plastics, the invention is not so limited. The invention is well suited for construction from a number of materials. For example, structural foam is well known in the art and formed in a low-pressure process that would be well suited for forming panels for use in the inventive wall. By way of example and not limitation, other suitable materials include: wood, fiberglass, carbon composites, wood-based composites, plywood, particle board, medium or high density plastic sheet material, phenolic, as well as a host of similar materials.

It should also be noted that, while all of the preferred embodiments discussed herein have adjustable walls, the invention is not so limited. Panels could be created having a fixed angular offset. Such a wall would fall squarely within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

It should also be noted that, while a specific microcontroller was referenced with regard to the preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited. Many microcontrollers from a variety of manufacturers would work equally well with the preferred invention. In addition, many single board computers would also provide all the functionality needed to accomplish the required function, as would certain FPGA devices and many other such programmable devices, and/or systems.

Finally, it should also be noted that while assembly of the practice wall was described, disassembly of the inventive wall may be accomplished by simply reversing the steps of assembly. Thus the practice wall is well suited for temporary installation or for easy relocation. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A practice wall comprising: a plurality of panels arranged in a plurality of columns, wherein each column of said plurality of columns is pivotally attached to an adjacent column such that individual columns may be folded with respect to each adjacent column.
 2. The practice wall of claim 1 wherein said plurality of panels are arranged in a plurality of rows, and wherein each panel in a lower row includes an upper edge having a first mating feature, and wherein each panel in an upper row includes a bottom edge having a second mating feature such that said first and second mating features join said upper row to said lower row to form said plurality of columns.
 3. The practice wall of claim 2 further comprising a camera directed generally forward of the practice wall to capture the actions of a person using the practice wall.
 4. The practice wall of claim 2 further comprising: an accelerometer affixed to said wall; a processor in communication with said accelerometer for measuring acceleration in at least one axis; and a program executing in said processor for calculating at least one performance measurement of a person using the practice wall.
 5. The practice wall of claim 2 further comprising: a plurality of strain gauges attached to the impact surface of at least on of said panels; a processor in communication with said plurality of strain gauges to measure mechanical stress on said impact surface having said plurality of strain gauges; and a program executing in said processor for calculating at least one performance measurement of a person using the practice wall.
 6. The practice wall of claim 4 further comprising an RFID reader in communication with said processor, wherein said processor can communicate said at least one performance measurement to said user.
 7. The practice wall of claim 5 further comprising an RFID reader in communication with said processor, wherein said processor can communicate said at least one performance measurement to said user.
 8. A practice wall comprising: a plurality of panels arranged in columns and rows; and a plurality of hinges joining said columns such that each column is foldable with respect to each adjacent column.
 9. The practice wall of claim 8 wherein each panel of said plurality of panels is interchangeable with any other panel od said plurality of panels.
 10. The practice wall of claim 9 wherein said wall has at least one vertical edge and the practice wall further comprises comprising trim pieces secured along said at least one vertical edge.
 11. The practice wall of claim 9 wherein said wall has a top edge and the practice wall further comprises a plurality of trim pieces secured along said top edge.
 12. The practice wall of claim 8 further comprising instrumentation for generating an output.
 13. The practice wall of claim 12 further comprising a processor in communication with said instrumentation for processing said output and providing information to a user derived from said processing. 